Dot Hack REPENTANCE
by Trigger-chan
Summary: Cherry, a kind, high level player, saves Kibou, a newbie, from a monster when she first meets him. They become friends, searching for Aura together, and eventually grow very close...
1. Entry 1 New Beginnings

//Entry. 1. New. Beginnings.//

Delta- Bursting Passed Over Aqua Field  
A Goblin stood before Kibou, ready to finish him off. 

'Damn... Our first adventure, and we fail...' he looked over at his friend. 'Kohaku... I'm sorry...'

The Goblin charged at him... CLANG! A girl stepped in, blocking the attack. She killed the Goblin in a single slash, then turned around and healed Kibou. All he could do was stare in astonishment.

"Wow... thanks!" he said as she helped him up. "Um, I'm Kibou."

"It's no problem. I'm Cherry." the girl said. She had short red hair, and icy blue eyes, and was dressed in a red tank top and a long red skirt. She smiled brightly at him. "Well, I guess I'd better go before an admin finds out I'm here..."

"Wait!" Kibou yelled and grabbed Cherry's wrist, blushing that he was holding her hand.

"Hm?" she glanced at his blushing face, confused. "Um... Are you okay...?"

"I-I have a feeling that we should stick together from now on!" he said nervously.

"If you mean to help you train, then sure. I've got nothing better to do." said Cherry.

"Okay, well let's go to the Cathedral." Kibou replied. They left the dungeon and gated out.

Delta- Hidden Forbidden Holy Ground  
They entered the area keywords and gated to the front of the Hulle Granz Cathedral. They could see no one was there as they entered the large church. They walked up to a statue at the back of the Cathedral.

"You know... There was once a Goddess, that looked just like the statue here..." Cherry whispered and looked at Kibou. Her whisper echoed through the large, empty Cathedral, as though carried by some will. Kibou nodded in amusement. 

"Aura right?" he quietly laughed to himself. "Why isn't she here anymore? Did the admins delete her?."

"Perhaps but... I think that she left... of her own will... That she lost hope for the players of [The World." Cherry said quietly. Suddenly, the statue glowed. They both stared in shock. "What the...?!" 

The statue continued to glow brighter and brighter until the whole screen was white. The shadow of a girl appeared, and they heard a mysterious voice.

He is ours... He belongs to us now... We gave him that character, and so he is ours... 'It' is coming... He will know what to do...

Suddenly there was a scream and the light faded. When Cherry opened her eyes, Kibou was gone.

"Kibou... Kibou!" Cherry called out. No answer. She ran around, searching the Cathedral frantically. "KIBOU!" 

//End. of. Chapter. 1.//


	2. Entry 2 Joined Heartbeats

//Chapter. 2. Joined. Heartbeats.//

Delta- Hidden Forbidden Holy Ground

"Kibou this isn't funny!" Cherry cried as she ran around the Cathedral, looking for him. She gated to the other Lost grounds, training fields, and even looked around Mac Anu. "Hmmm I didn't even think to check if he was online..."

Cherry opened up the Who's Online window. She searched for his name and let out a sigh os relief to see that his name wasn't listed. 'Thank goodness... he just logged off! It was pretty rude of him to do it without saying so though. Oh well, I'm just glad he's okay... Still...' she thought for a moment. 'Why am I so worried about him? I barely even know him...'

Suddenly, she recieved a Flash Mail. It was from a player named Eiji-san, but it was blank. "Huh, that's weird..." she whispered to herself, and immediately replied. _**Um excuse me, but you sent me a blank Flash Mail...**_ _Was there something you wanted to tell me...?_ she wrote. Seconds later she got a reply. _**Actually... I wanted to tell you... Kibou... that was my fault... I'm sorry... I must... destroy the Book...**_ was his ominous reply. _**What?! What are you talking about?! What happened to him? WHERE'S KIBOU?!?!**_ After that, there was a one-word reply. _**Waterfall.**_ She ran to the Chaos Gate.

Delta- Hidden Forbidden Waterfall

"Hello?" Cherry called out. It appeared that no one was there. She sighed, knowing that her journey had been pointless. 'Maybe someone was just playing a prank on me...'

"You know of Kibou, correct?" a voice from behind her said. Cherry spun around. "Your name is Cherry?"

"You must be Eiji-san... Yes, I'm Cherry." Cherry said heitantly, her voice hinted with tension. "What do you know about Kibou..."

"It's my fault... It's my fault they took him..." Eiji-san said regretfully. He clenched his fists in anger. "It's because of that Book, I know it! That's it, I have no other choice! If I destroy the Book, Kibou will return!" His character then suddenly vanished.

"Hm... Book? Maybe he was talking about someone else..." she told herself. She laughed. "Maybe I was just going crazy and imagining things." She gated out back to Mac Anu.

The thought still bothered Cherry, but she just ignored it. Relieved that Kibou was okay, she returned to the Cathedral to think. She walked up to Aura's statue and sighed. 'If he's just logged off, why am I still so worried about him...?' Cherry thought as she paced around. She started towards the door. "Hm I know! I'll go talk to Harald. That usually helps me feel better." On that, she hurried to the front of the Cathedral and used a Fairy's Orb, which immediately warped her to the upside-down dungeon.

Delta- Bitter Fantasy Mirror World

Once she warped in front of the dungeon, she immediately hurried through to the end, to the white room where the mysterious Harald resides.

"Hello Harald." said Cherry as she approached him. "I'm... worried about my friend, Kibou..." He said nothing, as usual. Cherry giggled a bit. "I just called him... my friend... I barley know him..." The silence was beginning to grow eerie, so she turned around and prepared to leave. That's when she heard his voice.

"Harald... What have you done... Where is she..." the voice said in an angered yet calm tone. Cherry turned around, and couldn't believe her eyes. There stood Kibou, talking to Harald.

"Kibou! You're okay!" Cherry called out in shock. He didn't answer. Another feeling of worry washed over her. "Kibou...?"

"Where is she?! Tell me where she is Harald!" Kibou said angrily as he drew his daggers. "Tell me or I'll destroy you!"

"Is he talking about me...? Why can't he see me?" said Cherry. Out of curiousity, she opened up the Who's Online menu. She was stunned to see that his name wasn't there. She looked at him. "K-Kibou..."

//End. of. Chapter. 2.//


End file.
